“Painful, disappointing and absolutely unascertainable”. So said Bill Gates, the philanthropist and founder of Microsoft, who today reacted to cuts on development aid announced by the Spanish government to help squeeze public deficit back inside parameters defined by Brussels. Speaking in Barcelona during a meeting of the Catalan foundation, Instituto di Salud Global, of which he is a member, Gates said that the Madrid government’s contribution to development had always been “an international example”

Gates showed he knows the score but also the human costs:

Although he is aware of Spain’s economic difficulties, the Microsoft boss said that he was disappointed with the government’s decision. Gates, who through the foundation of the same name commits money and effort into eradicating endemic illnesses such as malaria and polio in developing countries, first praised the efforts made in the past by José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who in a few years doubled development aid, before criticising him. “These are exceptional situations but I feel disappointed, because the government has always ensured that its aid was being well spent and especially now that the funds were beginning to have an impact on a global level,” Gates commented.

This illuminates an issue that conservatives have been beaten up on over the last 100 years. Liberals, while spending other people’s money, said that conservatives don’t care. However, now that the liberals can’t pay for vaccines, do they get the bad name?